cognitive-enhancement

This chapter explores the rising use of cognitive enhancers such as ADHD drugs, dietary supplements, brain-training games, and emerging neurotechnology to improve brain performance, especially among healthy individuals seeking competitive advantages. It discusses the ethical and legal implications of such enhancements, contrasting them with clear-cut cheating exemplified by the Operation Varsity Blues scandal. The chapter also highlights institutional responses, including academic policies that classify unauthorized use of cognitive enhancers as cheating.

Chapter 2 of 'Superintelligence' explores various conceptual and practical pathways to achieving superintelligence, including definitions, philosophical considerations, and technical approaches such as whole brain emulation and evolutionary algorithms. It discusses the computational and biological challenges involved, the potential for artificial environments to foster intelligence, and the role of genetic and cognitive enhancements. The chapter also addresses ethical, philosophical, and technical debates surrounding the development of superintelligent systems.

Janis Taine, a researcher experimenting with novel cognitive-enhancing drug combinations, is confronted by two mysterious men in black suits who warn her to cease her investigation into a proscribed area of research controlled by secretive authorities known as Stasis. Fearful for her safety and the secrecy of her findings, she seeks help from an underground defense collective and attempts to contact an ally, Moh Kohn, whose unsettling appearance reflects the pervasive influence of the substances Janis is working with. The chapter explores the tension between scientific inquiry and authoritarian control in a post-war society.